Hello. This is our first trip to Paris and we are on a budget. We are using hotel points and sky miles. The hotel that is reserved is by the Pulitzer Opera House. Is this location safe? Is it somewhat convienient? We will be in Paris for 4 days and then we are off to Amsterdam. How long is the train ride and should we buy train tickets in advance? I am soooo excited to go, but a little nervous. I appreciate your help.

hi, you will enjoy Paris.. the hotel is in a decent location, maybe just a little 'working class' ... surrounded by metro stops but you could walk toward the Seine, the Louvre, Opera Garnier and some big department stores (Galeries Lafayette, Printemps..).

The Thalys train to Amsterdam runs about 4 hours, passing thru Brussels. You can prebook tickets and possibly find the "Smilys" fare. Note that this fare is nonrefundable and requires you to buy a round-trip but you can toss the return part if you don't need it. See the very detailed instructions provided by MorganB (just type that name in the above search and you'll see the thread). The website to use is www.sncf.com

The station you want in Amsterdam is "Central Station".

Thanks for the reply. As long as the hotel is in a decent location I think that will be fine. I don't really see us staying in the room too much. Do you think we could book the train tickets when we get there, or should we do it in advance. We will only need a one way ticket.

The one-way tickets are the easiest to get, and cost around 98 Euro each, if memory serves. The nonrefnd. Smilys tickets are 38 Euro each way, so the required r/t fare is 76 Euro, cheaper than the normal fare. That is why I mentioned it. Tickets are bookable online starting at 60 days from the travel date. The Smilys are limited so there most likely won't be any left if you buy in Paris. MorganB's instructions are very thorough... but if you're just too uneasy about it, then you can buy your tickets in Paris, probably best to get them soon after you arrive. You can go to any train station booking office ("billets" means tickets) or one of the SNCF agencies around Paris. If you search for "sncf boutique" you should find a post with a list of them and the addresses.

Actually, the website you want to book the Thalys train from Paris to Amsterdam is the Thalys website, here:

www.thalys.com/fr/en/timetables

It will take about 4 hours on Thalys from Paris's Gare du Nord to Amsterdam's Centraal Station.

I will add that the train to Amsterdam leaves only from Gare du Nord. It's best to limit your time in that station, as it is very large (the Eurostar from London arrives there as well), so there are many tourists and that means more con artists and pickpockets. Buy your tickets ahead and have them already - someone might be able to tell which track(s) the train leaves from ("voie" on signage in the station means track). Otherwise, huge overhead signs will continually give a listing of all trains departing soon, their destination, depart time, and track. The Thalys will be posted on that board maybe 30 minutes ahead.

I never use Thalys.com - -
www.sncf.com is very easy and I like how it looks and flows much better. I have used sncf.com for at least 3 years now. (I even used it for Amsterdam-to-Paris for my upcoming trip, in spite of the orig. being Netherlands not France).

We were in Paris 2 weeks ago and also went to Amsterdam. We purchased the Thalys train tickets online and printed them at home. You can save quite a bit if you purchase the Smilys in advance. It's easy to do.

As others have mentioned, the train ride is 4 hours but it goes by fast and the train is comfortable. Don't worry about going first class, second is just fine.

Have fun!

The Thalys track is always easily marked from Gare du Nord, I took it last September, you'll see the logo-or just look up on the board or the little Thalys booth which is right there before the tracks.

Kristy-you should definitely purchase your Thalys ticket as far in advance as possible-if you do like me, and wait until the night before to purchase your tickets on line (I've never had any trouble using the thalys.com website) then you will pay a LOT more for your ticket than if you purchase in advance.

Thanks for all the help. I am online right now trying to book the tickets.

In case you didn't locate MorganB's thread, the two main things with www.sncf.com are:
1. leave the country as "France"
2. don't buy the optional insurance (choosing that prevents the option of "print on your printer" not to be displayed)

Yeah!! I just booked the tickets, however the sight is experiencing difficulties and the tickets won't print. I did get a confirmation number though to print them later. Thanks for all your help. I will be asking more questions as we get a little closer.